While trade unions attempt to organise migrant workers, it can be difficult for migrants - especially those involved in temporary and circular migration programmes - to join unions. Cooperation between unions in countries of origin and destination can be useful in addressing these protection gaps.
The Ministry of Malians Abroad has asked the EU ACP Action for Migration, implemented by the International Organization for Migration - IOM, to review the mechanisms that have been put in place since 2011 regarding remmittance and migration.
In particular, the mandate of this assistance was to review the mechanisms that relate, inter alia, to the following:
The Government of Kenya and IOM released in 2017 a guide for diaspora remittances and investments in the country.
On 29 November 2017, COMMIT (an inter-governmental body of the Governments of Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with UNDP’s UN-ACT project serving as Secretariat), at the 12th COMMIT Senior Officials Meeting, finalized a preamble to support ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Fair Recruitment.
Somalia is experiencing a remarkable recovery from decades of war and instability. Moving forward it is essential for the country to develop a strong and sound financial system which is up to international standards in terms of efficiency, transparency and regulation. One key element of the Somali financial system is mobile money. Mobile money allows Somalis to store money, as well as to receive and make payments. This is a major development for a country that lacks a strong currency, remains unsafe in many regions and in which 90% of the population does not have a bank account.
The Money Remittances Improvement Act of 2014 allows the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to rely on state examinations of MTOs, reducing duplicative oversight and increasing the effectiveness of overall supervision. In March 2016, FinCEN released guidance to make regulatory expectations related to MTO principal supervision of agents clearer and to eliminate misunderstandings about what is expected from principals.
The UK Government introduced Payment services legislation in 2017 to implement the second European Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The Legislation will come into force in the UK in January 2018. Under this legislation credit institutions will be required to provide payment service providers (PSPs) with access to payment accounts on a proportionate, objective and non-discriminatory basis, and report instances where access has been denied to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The government of Turkey is working to improve the platform that is set on the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency’s (BRSA) web site and that discloses all fees charged by banks for the services they provide.
The BRSA started to license payment institutions in July 2015 and will continue to progress this work.
To improve sector competition, the Law allows payment institutions and electronic money institutions to conduct money remittance services through a more extensive service or agent network compared to banks.
The Support Fund for Investments of Senegalese Abroad (Fonds d’appui à l’investissement des Sénégalais de l’extérieur – FAISE) aims to promote productive investments in Senegal by citizens living overseas with the long-term objective of encouraging their voluntary return to the country.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (“SAMA”) initiated the “Remittance Centers Project” at the end of 2016. The Project’s objective is to review the remittances environment and identify areas of improvement, with a particular focus on the centers’ working hours, pricing and service quality, as well as the technology utilization and electronic channels. The project will be completed by the end of 2017.